The best evidence for the existence of intelligent life

The best evidence for the existence of intelligent life in the universe lies in the fact that they have steadfastly refused to contact us.

— Richard Boyd

I saw this quote as a letter-to-the-editor in one of the San Francisco Bay Area papers several years ago. I love the twisted logic and the inherent presumptions that it contains. Some attempts at logical arguments for the existence of God share these logical fallacies.

I do not know who Richard Boyd is. At the time the newspaper simply indicated that he was from Berkeley. A quick Google search yields a philosophy professor at Cornell who previously taught at UC Berkeley. Could be. In any case, it is a delightful quote that I have repeated dozens of times.

Thank you Mr. Boyd.

Similar Posts

  • Mercy

    The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
    It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
    Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
    It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

    — William Shakespeare

    I memorized this quote in grade 10 English class. Funny how some things stay with you forever.

  • Calculating the Distance to California

    Something like 90% of the nations fruit and vegetables are grown in California’s Central Valley. Here is a simple calculator to determine how far you are from this fertile land:

    1. Buy a 1/2 pint of raspberries from your local supermarket
    2. Count how many raspberries are moldy
    3. Multiply the number of moldy raspberries by 250. This is your distance in miles from California.

    For example, I am in Northern Michigan this week. I counted at least 9 moldy raspberries in the pack. 9 x 250 = 2,500. This is the approximate distance from my location to California’s Central Valley.

    Q.E.D.

  • |

    Celebrate art and culture. It defines who we are.

    When you live in times of authoritarian rule one of the first things that end up in the cross hairs is culture. We believe firmly that artists and writers and dramatists and actors and musicians play a vital role in defending the integrity of who we are as human beings.

    — Jeremy Scahill, on the Trump’s Cabinet of Killers and Why Orange is the New Anti-Black episode of The Intercepted.

    I have never been more grateful for organizations like the ACLU and the plethora of lawyers we have in this country. Likewise, I am inspired by the power of our marches and protests as we stand up for our values. But, in addition to the direct tangible actions we can take, we also need a 100 million voices writing and singing and laughing and, in general, sounding our barbaric yawps over the roofs of the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.